What’s Better Than One? Grantley Acres Has Two Fillies on the Oaks Trail

[Wandering Eyes]

Simply Joking was failed by 17 vets at the Keeneland September Sale, but Geoff Nixon had an inside track into the filly's history. The daughter of Practical Joke had spent some time at his farm, Grantley Acres, as a yearling and Nixon had liked what he saw. Plus, he knew that her half-brother Drum Roll Please (Hard Spun) was showing promise as a 2-year-old. Nixon took a chance and bought the filly from his friends at Ballysax Bloodstock for $65,000.

“To the Thoroughbred world it's not a ton of money, but to a lot of us that's a lot of money,” admitted Nixon. “We took a chance with her as a broodmare prospect really, with the hope that maybe we could get her to the racetrack one day.”

Simply Joking was sent back to Grantley Acres and given some time to develop. Meanwhile her half-brother scored in the Jerome Stakes. Eventually, she was sent to Travis Durr's training center and, after showing promise there, went on to trainer Whit Beckman.

Now, the filly is two for two in a pair of stakes in New Orleans and she'll make her graded stakes debut this weekend in the GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds. At 4-1 morning-line odds, she'll be the third choice behind highly touted Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) and Ballerina d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro).

“It's deeper water, but she's shown that she can come to these waters and tackle this company,” said Nixon. “It looks like some rain is in the forecast, but she ran in the slop last out and it's home turf for her, so we feel very confident. The jockey [Jaime Torres] is great. He works her every weekend. She has a lot of momentum going into this race and that's what you need when you get to these big races.”

Nixon might start getting used to watching these promising fillies sport the Grantley Acres silks on important race days. Last weekend, he went to Tampa Bay to watch Grantley Acres homebred Her Laugh (Practical Joke) run second in the Suncoast Stakes.

Her Laugh shares a similar story to Simply Joking in that she was never going to reach her full potential at the sales due to some X-ray issues. Nixon had bought the filly's dam Truth Goddess (Point of Entry) as a yearling for $30,000 and raced her to a maiden win at Keeneland in 2018. Her Laugh was the mare's first foal, so he wasn't willing to part with her for less than what he believed her to be worth. The filly joined the Grantley Acres racing stable.

A winner in her first two starts for Beckman including the Untapable Stakes, Her Laugh missed the break and trailed three lengths behind the field in the Suncoast, but she came flying late with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard to get up for second.

“Irad said when they went around the turn, she kicked into a whole new gear and did all that by herself,” reported Nixon. “He saw an opening and guided her through it, never got the whip out, and she just took off and obviously was never going to catch the winner, but she made a huge effort.”

With two fillies on the Kentucky Oaks trail, Nixon can hardly believe their stable's good fortune. But he is quick to credit the team behind the two fillies including Travis Durr and Whit Beckman, who he has supported since the former Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown assistant went out on his own.

Her Laugh wins the Untapable Stakes | Hodges Photography

“In this business it's the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but at the end of the day it's awesome people and really it's a team effort,” he noted. “It takes a village. I can't do it all by myself.”

Nixon, who is based in Texas and owns a construction company there, got involved in racing a decade ago. He and his wife Brandi purchased a farm in Midway, Kentucky in 2018 and recently moved their Kentucky base to a new farm in Versailles. Formerly known as Tolo Thoroughbreds, they renamed the operation to Grantley Acres after their two children, Graham and Brantley, and have celebrated success breeding the likes of Grade I winner Queen Goddess (Empire Maker) and graded stakes victor Dennis' Moment (Tiznow).

With around 50 broodmares in their program, Nixon said their goal is to produce Saturday horses. Most are bred with the intention of selling, but a few are retained with the same goal of competing at the highest level.

“I put a lot of effort into the breeding,” said Nixon. “It's kind of my baby and I go through a program that I have and look at physicals for mares and stallions. I can't just go to the best of the best, so I have to set a budget and fit every mare inside of that.”

Nixon was a big fan of Practical Joke from the start of his stallion career, so it's not purely coincidental that both of the Grantley Acres Oaks hopefuls are sired by the Coolmore stallion.

Describing the two fillies, Nixon said, “In terms of how you're around some horses and you're like, 'Wow, just the presence and pedigree,' well, that's Simply Joking. Her Laugh doesn't have that same presence about her so people automatically go to the more well-bred filly. So Her Laugh is kind of the underdog.”

And Her Laugh maybe has some sentimental partiality as well.

“My daughter, who is nine years old, has the most incredible laugh,” shared Nixon. “Once you get her going, you start laughing just because she's laughing. We wanted to name a horse after her laugh somehow and we finally said, 'Why not just 'Her Laugh?'”

He continued, “With her being a homebred it is special and we've had many offers on both fillies from respectable outfits. We've respectfully turned them down and said we'll keep the line of communication open, but something in my stomach says keep this going.”

Geoff Nixon and Mike Abraham | Fasig-Tipton

Simply Joking is owned by Grantley Acres in partnership with Ryan Conner, a friend of Nixon's since high school, and Berkels0813, which is Nixon's mother and stepfather.

Nixon has yet to miss either of his star fillies race. This weekend, a slew of supporters including Nixon and his 16-year-old son Graham, Ryan Conner, Nixon's two sisters and his father and stepfather will all be in attendance at Fair Grounds.

Nixon is an outspoken advocate of racing and he said if he is able to get even one of his fillies into the Oaks starting gate, he plans to use his platform to help grow the game.

“I hope I can help gain excitement by saying, 'Hey, these weren't the perfect fillies' and 'Hey, you don't have to dive in and spend a million dollars,'” said Nixon. “I think that can be used as momentum to help grow the industry and have fun and enjoy the atmosphere. Going to a race is very fun and if you can get in the winner's circle, I mean, that's another level. But seeing the horses in the paddock and just talking with other owners, there's more to it than just winning or losing.”

He continued, “We're looking at some ideas to try to bring new owners to the game. I know there are a lot of people out there who are more vocal about it, like the John Stewarts and the Mike Repoles, but I also think there are a lot of smaller people like Grantley Acres out there that also really care about the industry and want it to change and grow for generations to come. As a smaller guy, you feel like you've got to do it slowly and the right way because you don't want to go up against the goliaths of Repole or Stewart and I don't want to go against them, I want to go with them.”

After purchasing the dam of Simply Joking privately last fall, Nixon now has the dams of both his Oaks hopefuls at home at Grantley Acres. With both mares expecting foals this year and plenty of road left on the way to the Kentucky Oaks, Nixon and his family have a lot to look forward to in the coming months.

“To win a graded stakes race is obviously a dream for any breeder or owner,” he said. “Just to get to the starting gate in the Kentucky Oaks has always been a dream. And so what's better than one? It'll be a special moment to share with my family and my friends and everybody involved. If we get there, we'll have an entourage.”

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